Single-serve beverage receptacle

ABSTRACT

A single-serve beverage receptacle includes a reservoir, arranged to contain a beverage or a beverage additive, and is provided with a bore, an outlet opening into the reservoir, at least one opening leading out of the reservoir, a bottom plug having a closed position the opening being sealed in a liquid-tight manner, and an open position where the opening is clear, a piston mounted in the bore, the piston being movable between first and second positions. The first position requires the bottom plug to be in the open position. The piston has a skirt and a disc rigidly connected to each other. The skirt having an outer surface in contact with the reservoir and an inner surface with an imprint arranged to be connected in a liquid-tight manner to an opening in a beverage container such that during the connection, the piston moves from the second to the first position.

INVENTIVE FIELD

The invention is in the field of foodstuffs, and in particular that of single-serve beverage and beverage additive receptacles.

BACKGROUND

Single-serve beverage receptacles can be filled with a first content to be poured into a principal receptacle itself containing a second content to obtain a mixture. For example, single-serve beverage receptacles in the form of fluid-tight sachets contain syrup intended to be poured into a bottle of water. In this case, the bottle of water must have a free volume sufficient to receive the content of the single-serve beverage receptacle without overflowing. Moreover, the user may through clumsiness pour the content of the single-serve beverage receptacle down the side of the principal receptacle. The use of such single-serve beverage receptacles is hardly practical.

There also exist single-serve beverage receptacles specifically adapted to feed a machine. This is for example the case of single-serve beverage receptacles containing soluble coffee. The latter can be used only by means of a corresponding machine.

The invention improves on this situation.

SUMMARY

The Applicant proposes a single-serve beverage receptacle comprising a reservoir adapted to contain a beverage or a beverage additive. The reservoir is provided with a bore. The single-serve beverage receptacle has an outlet opening onto the reservoir. The single-serve beverage receptacle includes at least one opening leading out of the reservoir at a distance from the outlet. The single-serve beverage receptacle includes a bottom cap having a closed position wherein the opening is sealed in a liquid-tight manner and an open position wherein the opening is clear. The single-serve beverage receptacle includes a piston mounted in said bore. The piston is movable between a first position and a second position. The first position requires the bottom cap to be in the open position. The piston comprised a skirt and a disc which are rigidly connected to each other. The skirt is provided with an outer surface which is in contact with the reservoir and an inner surface which is provided with an imprint adapted to be connected in a liquid-tight manner to an opening in a beverage container in such a way that during connection, the piston moves from the second position to the first position. The single-serve beverage receptacle includes an opening to provide fluid communication between the inside of the reservoir and the opening, the opening being open in the first position and closed in the second position of the piston.

A single-serve beverage receptacle of this kind enables mixing of the content of the single-serve beverage receptacle with that of a principal receptacle. The risks of soiling are reduced. The mixing operation can be carried out independently of the free volume available in the principal receptacle, the single-serve beverage receptacle forming an extension of the volume of the principal receptacle. Once installed on the principal receptacle, the outlet of the single-serve beverage receptacle is used by the user to drink the mixture. The user is able to reclose the combination of the principal receptacle and the single-serve beverage receptacle by closing the outlet of the single-serve beverage receptacle. The relative movement between the single-serve beverage receptacle and the principal receptacle imparted by the user to fix the single-serve beverage receptacle to the principal receptacle also serves to open the single-serve beverage receptacle to the principal receptacle.

In one embodiment, the opening is radial and formed in the piston.

In one embodiment, the reservoir is provided with a distal bore of larger diameter and a proximal bore of smaller diameter connected by a shoulder. The piston can be disposed in the bore of smaller diameter. The disc and the bore of smaller diameter can be in fluid-tight communication in the closed position. The disc can be moved away from the bore of smaller diameter in the open position. The opening can face the bore of larger diameter.

In one embodiment, the bottom cap is fixed to an exterior surface of the reservoir.

In one embodiment, the interior surface of the skirt is provided with at least two, preferably at least three, threaded stages. The threaded stages have a diameter matched to a thread of the beverage receptacle.

In one embodiment, the imprint of the skirt is a female thread.

In one embodiment the piston is helicoidally connected to the reservoir. The female thread and the helicoidal connection can be in the same sense so that screwing the drink receptacle into the female thread can continue with the helicoidal movement of the piston from the closed position to the open position.

In one embodiment, the opening is in communication with the interior of the skirt.

In one embodiment, the opening comprises a plurality of portions separated by the studs forming a junction between the disc and the skirt.

In one embodiment, the torque for moving the piston relative to the reservoir is compatible with manual use.

In one embodiment, the reservoir is cylindro-conical with a cylindrical portion of smaller diameter near the outlet, a cylindrical portion of larger diameter near the opening and a frustoconical portion disposed between the cylindrical portions of smaller diameter and of larger diameter. Said portions can be coaxial.

In one embodiment, the piston is a monobloc piston.

In one embodiment, in the second position, the piston is flush with the opening.

In one embodiment, the bottom cap is screwed onto the reservoir.

In one embodiment, the single-serve beverage receptacle comprises a top cap. The outlet can be blocked by the top cap. The top cap may be screwed onto the reservoir.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features, details and advantages of the invention will become apparent on reading the following detailed description and from the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in longitudinal section of a single-serve beverage receptacle according to one aspect of the invention,

FIG. 2 is an exploded view in longitudinal section of a single-serve beverage receptacle according to one aspect of the invention,

FIG. 3 is a view in longitudinal section of a filled single-serve beverage receptacle according to one aspect of the invention, and

FIG. 4 is a view in longitudinal section at the opening of the piston.

The drawings and the following description essentially contain elements of a certain kind. They could therefore serve not only to explain the present invention better but also to contribute to its definition where necessary. Elements such as the geometry, the shapes and the dimensions of the single-serve beverage receptacle are difficult to define completely other than by means of the drawing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, the terms “top”, “bottom”, “horizontal”, “vertical”, “interior” and “exterior” are used with reference to the disposition and the orientation of a single-serve beverage receptacle 1 assembled with a principal receptacle 100 placed on a substantially horizontal surface. The single-serve beverage receptacle 1 generally has axial symmetry about an axis Z, represented as vertical in the figures.

The single-serve beverage receptacle 1 comprises a reservoir 2, a piston 3 and a top cap 4. Each of these components generally has a circular shape. The reservoir 2, the piston 3 and the top cap 4 are coaxial. A bottom cap 5 may be provided. Alternatively or additionally a peel-off film may be provided.

The reservoir 2 is made in one piece. The reservoir 2 is made of plastic material, for example polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The reservoir 2 may be produced by injection-blowing. The material is of foodstuff grade. The reservoir 2 comprises a circular cylindrical upper portion 21, a circular lower portion 22 of greater diameter than the upper portion 21, and a frustoconical portion 23 disposed between the upper portion 21 and the lower portion 22. The reservoir 2 delimits a chamber 24. The chamber 24 is formed by the interior surfaces of the upper portion 21, of the lower portion 22 and of the frustoconical portion 23. The upper end of the upper portion 21 forms an outlet 6 or neck communicating with the chamber 24. The lower end of the lower portion 22 forms an opening 7 in communication with the chamber 24.

The interior surface of the upper portion 21 is a circular cylindrical bore. The interior surface of the lower portion 22 is circular with a varying diameter. To be more precise, the interior surface of the lower portion 22 comprises a portion 25 of larger diameter adjacent to the frustoconical portion 23 and a distal portion 26 of smaller diameter. A shoulder 27, here radial, is provided between the portion 25 of larger diameter and the portion 26 of smaller diameter. The shoulder 27 is disposed at substantially between one third and two thirds of the height of the lower portion 22.

In the embodiment shown, the exterior surface of the lower portion 22 is circular. The exterior surface of the lower portion 22 includes a groove 28 of rectangular section adjacent to the end of the lower portion 22 opposite the frustoconical portion 23. The groove 28 forms a thinner area of the wall of the reservoir 2.

The piston 3 is produced in one piece. The piston 3 is made of plastic material, for example of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The piston 3 may be formed by injection-blowing. The material is of foodstuff grade. The piston 3 comprises a skirt 31 and a disc 32 fastened to one another.

The disc 32 has two parallel plane faces and a circular edge. One of the parallel plane faces is at the top and in the closed position forms with the shoulder 27 a lower surface of the chamber 24. Said upper parallel plane face and the shoulder 27 are coplanar. The disc 32 has a thickness along the axis Z much less than the height of the skirt 31 also along the axis Z. The disc 32 has a thickness along the axis Z of the same order of magnitude as the thickness of the skirt 31 in a plane normal to the axis Z and the thickness of the skirt 31 is preferably between 50% and 150% inclusive of the thickness of the disc 32. The circular edge is a circular cylinder. The circular edge has a diameter adapted to form a seal with the portion 26 of smaller diameter. A slight interference fit is desirable. The disc 32 is fluid-tight with the reservoir 2 in the closed position. The disc 32 has a fluid-tight structure.

The skirt 31 extends from the disc 32 along the axis Z and away from the chamber 24. The skirt 31 is in contact with the reservoir 2. The skirt 31 has a circular cylindrical exterior surface adapted to slide, preferably with a helicoidal movement, in the portion 26 of smaller diameter of the reservoir 2. The cylindrical exterior surface may have a diameter equal to or very slightly less than the diameter of the circular edge of the disc 32.

The skirt 31 has a circular staged interior surface. Each stage is cylindrical and smooth or preferably threaded. An upper stage 33, an intermediate stage 34 and a lower stage 35 are provided here. The upper stage 33 extends as far as the disc 32 and has a first diameter. The intermediate stage 34 extends as far as the upper stage 33 and has a second diameter. The lower stage 35 extends as far as the intermediate stage 34 and has a third diameter. The third diameter is greater than the second diameter. The second diameter is greater than the first diameter. Said stages 33, 34, 35 are connected two by two by shoulders 36 and 37. The shoulders 36 and 37 are radial. The intermediate stage 34 and the lower stage 35 are threaded. Thus the interior surface of the skirt 31 is provided with an imprint adapted to be connected in a fluid-tight manner to an opening of a beverage receptacle 100.

Said stages 33, 34, 35 are preferably threaded. Alternatively more than three threaded stages are provided.

Radial holes 38, four in number in the embodiment shown, for example, are formed in the wall of the skirt 31 adjacent to the disc 32. The radial holes 38 may be flush with the disc 32. The radial holes 38 are at least one in number and preferably three, four or five in number. The radial holes 38 are regularly distributed over the circumference of the skirt 31. Here the radial holes 38 are of rectangular shape. The radial holes 38 interfere with the upper stage 33, imparting to it a crenellated shape. The radial holes 38 leave studs 39 between them. The studs 39 connect the disc 32 and the annular part of the skirt 31.

In the closed position, the radial holes 38 dead end against the portion 26 of smaller diameter. In the open position, the radial holes 38 open into the chamber 24. The radial holes 38 then face the portion 25 of larger diameter with a contiguous annular passage between the circular edge of the disc 32 and the portion 25 of larger diameter, see FIG. 4.

The piston 3 is mobile between the first position and the second position. The first position is open, liquid communication between the chamber 24 and the opening 7 being allowed, and the second position is closed, liquid communication between the chamber 24 and the opening 7 being interrupted.

The bottom cap 5 is designed to be screwed to the reservoir 2 or fixed by friction. To be more precise the bottom cap 5 is adapted to be fixed to the circular exterior surface of the groove 28. The bottom cap 5 comprises a skirt 51 and a blocking disc 52. The length of the skirt 51 along the axis Z is less than the length of the groove 28. The skirt 51 has an interior surface of complementary shape to the circular exterior surface of the groove 28. The blocking disc 52 is in one piece with the skirt 51. The blocking disc 52 and the skirt 51 can be the same thickness. The first position of the piston 3 requires that the bottom cap 3 is first opened, generally removed.

In the state shown in FIG. 2 the components of the single-serve beverage receptacle 1 are ready to be assembled. The piston 3 can by axial movement in translation in the portion 26 of smaller diameter come to close the bottom of the chamber 24. The bottom cap 5 can then be fixed to the reservoir 2.

In the state shown in FIG. 1, the top cap 4 and the bottom cap 5 are at a distance from the reservoir 2. The piston 3 is in the closed position. The bottom cap 5 can be fixed to the reservoir 2. The chamber 24 of the reservoir 2 can be filled with liquid, for example syrup. The top cap 4 can then come to close the reservoir 2.

In the state shown in FIG. 3, the chamber 24 contains liquid. The seal between the piston and the reservoir 2 is operative. The bottom cap 5 has been removed. The single-serve beverage receptacle 1 is ready to cooperate with the receptacle 100. The receptacle 100 comprises a threaded neck 101 and a reservoir. The intermediate stage 34 and the lower stage 35 have outside diameters one of which is matched to the outside diameter of the threaded neck 101. The threaded neck 101 can therefore be screwed into the piston 3.

In the state shown in FIG. 4 the threaded neck 101 has been screwed into the piston 3. The threaded neck 101 forms a seal with the piston 3. The screwing movement of the threaded neck 101 has enabled the piston 3 to be driven toward the outlet 6, i.e. has enabled movement of the piston 3 from the closed position to the open position. The holes 38 open into the chamber 24. The liquid flows downward in the direction of the arrow.

The exterior surface of the piston 3 and the portion 26 of smaller diameter are preferably threaded in a complementary manner. The thread is in the same sense as the thread of the threaded stages 34 and 35. As a result, screwing movement in one of the threaded stages 34 and 35 drives by a movement in the same sense, i.e. by a continuation of said movement, the insertion of the piston 3 into the reservoir 2 to open communication between the chamber 24 and the interior of the piston 3. The thread may have the same pitch as the thread of the threaded stages 34 and 35 to render an averagely attentive user unaware of the screwing of the piston 3.

Thus when the screwing torque of the threaded neck 101 increases at the end of screwing onto said threaded neck 101 said screwing torque exerted by the user becomes sufficient to drive the piston 3 in helicoidal rotation because of the thread whereby the piston 3 and the reservoir 2 cooperate.

The invention is not limited to the examples of single-serve beverage receptacles described hereinabove by way of example only and encompasses all variants that the person skilled in the art might envisage within the scope of the following claims 

1. A single-serve beverage receptacle (1) comprising: a reservoir (2) adapted to contain a beverage or a beverage additive, the reservoir (2) being provided with a bore, an outlet (6) opening onto the reservoir (2), at least one opening (7) leading out of the reservoir (2) at a distance from the outlet (6), a bottom cap (5) having a closed position wherein the opening (7) is sealed in a liquid-tight manner, and an open position wherein the opening (7) is clear, a piston (3) mounted in the bore, the piston (3) being movable between a first position and a second position, the first position requiring the bottom cap (5) to be in the open position, the piston (3) comprising a skirt (31) and a disc (32) which are rigidly connected to each other, the skirt (31) being provided with an outer surface which is in contact with the reservoir (2) and an inner surface which is provided with an imprint adapted to be connected in a liquid-tight manner to an opening in a beverage container (100) in such a way that during connection, the piston (3) moves from the second position to the first position, and an opening (38) to provide fluid communication between the inside (24) of the reservoir (2) and the opening (7), the opening (38) being open in the first position and closed in the second position of the piston (3).
 2. The single-serve beverage receptacle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the opening (38) is radial and formed in the piston (3).
 3. The single-serve beverage receptacle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reservoir (2) is provided with a distal bore (25) of larger diameter and a proximal bore (26) of smaller diameter connected by a shoulder (27), the piston (3) being disposed in the bore (26) of smaller diameter, the disc (32) and the bore (26) of smaller diameter being in fluid-tight communication in the closed position, the disc (32) being moved away from the bore (26) of smaller diameter in the open position, the opening (38) facing the bore (25) of larger diameter.
 4. The single-serve beverage receptacle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the interior surface of the skirt (31) is provided with at least two, preferably at least three, threaded stages.
 5. The single-serve beverage receptacle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the imprint of the skirt (31) is a female thread and the piston (3) is helicoidally connected to the reservoir (2), the female thread and the helicoidal connection being in the same sense so that screwing the drink receptacle into the female thread can continue with the helicoidal movement of the piston (3) from the closed position to the open position.
 6. The single-serve beverage receptacle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the opening (38) is in communication with the interior of the skirt (31).
 7. The single-serve beverage receptacle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the opening (38) comprises a plurality of portions separated by studs (39) forming a junction between the disc (32) and the skirt (31).
 8. The single-serve beverage receptacle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reservoir (2) is cylindro-conical with a cylindrical portion of smaller diameter (21) near the outlet (6), a cylindrical portion (22) of larger diameter near the opening (7) and a frustoconical portion (23) disposed between the cylindrical portions of smaller diameter and of larger diameter, said portions being coaxial.
 9. The single-serve beverage receptacle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the piston (3) is a monobloc piston and in the second position flush with the opening (7). 